Beginnings and rise to fame (1999–2015)

Johnson began acting at the age of six. On stage, he appeared in a London production of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, playing the son of Macduff alongside Rufus Sewell, who played Macbeth, in 1999.^[13] He appeared in Arthur Miller's All My Sons in 2000. His television roles have included Niker in the 2004 BBC adaptation of the novel Feather Boy, Aaron in Danny Brocklehurst's ITV1 serial Talk to Me, and Owen Stephens in Nearly Famous.^[3] In 2003, Taylor-Johnson appeared as a young Charlie Chaplin in Shanghai Knights alongside Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, with Chaplin depicted as a member of a London gang of street hooligans. That year, he also guest starred in a special live episode of ITV drama The Bill. In 2006, he appeared in The Illusionist, appearing in the early flashback scenes as Edward Norton's character, Eduard Abramovicz, as a teenager. The scenes show the young Eduard as he first learns magic. To do this, Johnson had to learn how to perform the ball trick that his character performs. He learned how to balance the egg on the stick, although that was mechanically effected.^[14] Also in 2006, he starred in the film The Thief Lord as Prosper.

Taylor-Johnson appeared as John Lennon in the 2009 biographical film Nowhere Boy, directed by Sam Taylor-Wood. His performance won him the Empire Award for Best Newcomer, and he was also nominated for Young British Performer of the Year by the London Film Critics' Circle. In 2010, Taylor-Johnson appeared as David "Dave" Lizewski/Kick-Ass, the lead character in Kick-Ass, based on the superhero comic book of the same name by Scottish writer Mark Millar.^[15][16] His performance in Kick-Ass saw him nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award. He has also appeared as the central character, William, in Hideo Nakata's Chatroom.^[3] In December 2010, Taylor-Johnson joined the cast of Albert Nobbs as a replacement for Orlando Bloom, who dropped out of the production due to his wife's pregnancy.^[17] Taylor-Johnson starred in R.E.M.'s 2011 music video "Überlin", which was also directed by his then-fiancée.^[18]

In 2012, Taylor-Johnson played Count Vronsky in Anna Karenina. Later that year, he starred as Ben in Oliver Stone's Savages. HitFix film critic Drew McWeeny was positive of the bond between Johnson and co-star Taylor Kitsch, which "seems not only credible but lived in and authentic throughout the film," and noted the evolution in maturity of Johnson since Kick-Ass.^[19] Taylor-Johnson starred in the Godzilla reboot, released in May 2014.^[20][21] Taylor-Johnson played Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), the sequel to 2012's The Avengers, as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.^[22] Taylor-Johnson first appeared as the character in a post-credits scene of the film Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).^[23] The role reunited him with Elizabeth Olsen, who played his wife in Godzilla.^[21][22]

Continued success (2016–present)

In 2016, he played Ray, a menacing Texan, in Tom Ford's thriller Nocturnal Animals. For the role, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. Taylor-Johnson also became first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor winner since Richard Benjamin who did not receive an Academy Award nomination. For the role, he also received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 2017, he played an American soldier (alongside John Cena) in Doug Liman's thriller The Wall,^[24] and in 2018, he appeared in Outlaw King, a British-American historical action drama about Robert the Bruce and the Wars of Scottish Independence.

In 2020, Taylor-Johnson had a supporting role in Christopher Nolan's film Tenet.^[25] In 2022, he appeared in David Leitch's Bullet Train, an action-thriller film based on the novel Mariabītoru by Kōtarō Isaka.^[26]

Taylor-Johnson will next play another Marvel character in Kraven the Hunter, set to be released in 2024 as part of Sony's Spider-Man Universe.^[27] He will also reunite with Leitch in the action film The Fall Guy,^[28] and star in Robert Eggers' horror film Nosferatu.^[29]

Film

Television

Video games